Mouse lock-up, IDE controller, Modem

[feri]

Hiya all... yes the thread title has multiple topics. Well it because I am new to XP Pro and have some questions I would like to ask. I have the latest SP1. update and all my drivers are current.

1st. Sometimes when I boot (cold & warm boot) I get to the log on screen and the mouse is frozen and I am also unable to type my password. Where do I start with this one? I have no conflicts. I have onboard ethernet and raid controllers which I have disabled with no drivers installed as at the mo as I have no use for them.

2nd. I am limited for plugs so I have to at times unplug my modem to use the speakers. If the modem is unplugged at boot up, I then cannot plug it in afterwards, to use it, without having to re-start my machine. I get the error code saying no answer error 'three digits' and modem not attached or plugged in. I have Robotics 56K dial-up. One day I will have ADSL.

3rd. I have VIA 4in1 drivers installed. Now having a look at device manager under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers I have primary and secondary IDE channels. There is also VIA bus master controller. Are the IDE channels up-gradable? or is it actually referring to the caballing. Does the IDE channel have a controller? I thought that the VIA drivers would have taken care of the upgrade?

Well I would appreciate any help on these matters. Thank You in advance.

Ferenc

 

[jrbarnett]

Feri,

I'm not sure about item 1, but with item 2, have you tried unplugging your speakers (or another device) and plugging the modem in when the PC is running, then switch it on? You should then be able to dial up with no problem.

As for item 3: The VIA board, as with all other boards using the IDE standard, supports two IDE channels out of the box, each of which can have two devices attached to it. Typically, devices connected will be hard drives, CD-RW's/DVD's/CD-ROM's, tape drives etc.
An IDE device must be set to be a master or slave for the channel to which it is connected. This is so the controller can differentiate between the two systems, but master is also used normally when there is only one device plugged into it.

Some VIA based boards have an onboard Promise UDMA controller chip (which will appear under the SCSI and Raid controllers option in device manager) but not all. If it does, then there will be a second pair of IDE connectors on the motherboard, and a potential connection capacity of 8 devices (ie 4 channels * 2 devices each).

To answer some of your specific questions:
Are the IDE channels upgradeable? No, but you can change the devices connected to them.
What is the VIA bus master controller? This is the standard out of the box driver for IDE devices, and is used for any that are not connected to IDE channels driven by specialised controller chips.
Does the IDE channel have a controller? Yes, of course it does. Each of the channels on the standard bus is operated by the VIA bus mastering controller, and any others are controlled by extra on board controller chips.

I hope I haven't blinded you with science here...

John

 

[feri]

thanx John....you have shed some light on the situation. I still dont understand why the modem does not allow me to connect to the net without restart. I know its not 'hot-swopable' but with 98SE I had no problems. Anyway I have found that'scan for hardware changes' under device manager has helped.
Thanx again.

 

[jrbarnett]

Feri
Just a quick assumption I made that your comment made me rethink:
Do you leave the modem serial cable plugged into the serial port when switched off, or do you disconnect this as well when you unplug it?
If you unplug it from the PC as well as the mains, try leaving it connected to the PC and just switching it on.

John

 

[feri]

no John i do not unplug the serial port. I leave it pluged in. Will try out what you suggested.
Thanx

F.
ps. i am now getting more freezez at boot-up. The keyboard and mouse do not respond at the log-in screen so I have to re-boot to try and log-in

 

[bcastner]

Try enabling legacy support in the BIOS. If ps/2 keyboard and mouse, enable PS/2 legacy support. If USB, enable USB legacy support.
This should clear up the freeze of the keyboard and mouse at startup.

 

[feri]

thanx will give it a go. Though I have never had this lock up problem with WIN 98SE. The BIOS has not been changed since my upgrade to XP Pro.